A chance meeting at one in the morning
by AUTOMATIC BETA
Summary: SUMMARY: Hermione wasn't the only student wandering around the castle at one in the morning, if fact, there was none other than Draco Malfoy leaning against the wall of the transfiguration hall. "Hi." His gentle voice broke through the other noises of the castle, and after an awkward conversation, they meet again, but what unfolds? And could Hermione he the next Sherlock?


**SUMMARY:** Hermione wasn't the only student wandering around the castle at one in the morning, if fact, there was none other than Draco Malfoy leaning against the wall of the transfiguration hall. "Hi." His gentle voice broke through the other noises of the castle, and after an awkward conversation, they meet again, but what unfolds? And could Hermione he the next Sherlock?

**RATING:** T for language, mostly because I got an angry PM the other day for a rated K+ with the word "shit" written in **MY** AN. Sorry dude; it's my note.

**PUBLISHED:** 23rd of April, 2014.

**DISCLAIMER:** As hard as it is to believe, the original works are not mine; my awesomeness comes naturally, so please Rowling, don't sue.

**AUTHOR:** Me! AUTOMATIC BETA here!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Need a beta? Hi. It's in my username! Click the link in my profile to see my stuffy-stuffy- stuff. Anyway, I wrote this on my birthday (the eleventh) but I forgot to publish it! Have fun reading; sorry if it's OOC/AU.

xXx

The castle's cold hallways vibrated with the eerie sounds that filled Hogwarts on the dark October night in question. The ghost shimmered past the great hall, creating small whooshes as they glided through the frozen air on wisps of smoke. There were small noises, tinkling and flicks of metal, radiating from Professor Dumbledore's office, because if there was one thing Dumbledore had to do at one o'clock in the morning, it was make a lot of noise.

But in the middle of the castle, down the transfiguration hallway, there was a girl. A lone girl walking down the corridor at one in the morning, and with everything on her mind, it was no wonder she had lost track of the time and was wandering in the dark around the castle, trying to reach the top of the Gryffindor tower.

However she wasn't the only student wandering around the castle, if fact, there was none other than her nemesis, the only boy would could even compete with her wit, and in the dark, he lent against the stone wall. His blond hair hung over stormy grey eyes, the scarce light bounding off the shiny orbs. His pale skin looked dead in this light, but he smiled anyway when he saw her.

"Hi." his gentle voice broke through the other noises of the castle, causing the brains of the golden trio to jump, but she managed to stay in the shadows, away from the speaker, who almost scared her half to death.

"Hello." Her small voice, echoed gently down the stone hall, and he loved the sound of it. She was amazing and beautiful, even when her hair messily put up in a lazy ponytail. She looked tired, but if she stopped to talk, so she must've been awake enough to think.

"What's your name?" he asked through the darkness, but the light glinting out his hair gave it a surreal shine.

_Good._She thought inwardly to herself, _He didn't see me._

"What's my name? Do you really need it? I'd rather not say." said a soft voice, which was barely audible over the loud noises echoing from around the castle. Hermione didn't sound like herself, and as much as it annoyed him, he knew who she was, and that she'd never trust a stranger who talked to her in an abandoned hall at one in the morning.

"Then a nick name please?" He sounded hopeful before, like he wanted a certain name, even if now he just sounded bored and disappointed. However, even if that was the case, he'd never want it to be her.

"You can call me Mercury." Her clever nickname referenced the element Mercury with the sign Hg, with stood for Hermione Granger. No one should know the periodic table of elements, since Hogwarts didn't teach science.

"Mercury? Okay, call me Thuban." Thuban? That's just about the worst nick name ever.

"Okay Draco." She said, having already guessed his name.

"You already know who I am?" He had a tone of surprise and fear in his voice, like he was scared I'd tell someone. But tell them what?

"Thuban is a star in Draco, sometimes referred to as Draconis. Draco is a constellation, located in the northern sky. Thuban, however, used to be the northern star, before Polaris took over, and has a radius of 4,695,000 kilometers and a mass of 7.657E30 kilograms, or 3.85 in solar mass. Its magnitude is 3.645. And really, you could've chosen GSC 03549-02811, which I think is far more interesting; it's a yellow main-sequence star similar to the sun. It's actually only approximately 718 light years away, and about 5 billion years old. It's actually not visible to the naked eye, you'd need a telescope. The magnitude is actually about 11.41, and was discovered by the TrES program using the transit method… Um… sorry for the rant, but really? And at least my nickname has character."

"Character?" He asked, sounding surprised and challenging the brave Gryffindor to explain.

"Do you know who I am?" She said with a sly smile, which really was just on the verge on being a smirk, almost really, but not quite.

"No.", he lied, false sorrow echoing through his voice into her ears.

"Then it worked." Her smile turned into her most Slytherin looking smirk, rivaling even Salazar's.

"Why conceal yourself though?" The blond Slytherin asked, genuinely intrigued as to why she choose to rename herself to something so… unique… yes, that was the polite term to use. "it's not like I'm dangerous."

"But you are." She said, "Well, to me at least." He looked confused, so she elaborated, "We're opposing forces, always equal, but never the same. I do something, you always do the opposite, but its equal- you never win, but neither do I. Like we're on two different sides of door that opens both ways, but we're both pushing, so the door never opens- just stays shut."

That was the most beautiful explanation on them he'd heard as of yet- and the most accurate. He never hated her, and he was pretty sure she never hated him; they were just opposites, and everything and everyone around them kept them fighting. But maybe they weren't opposites; what if they were to positively charged magnets? They'd be the same, but so much that they repelled each other? Doomed to never see each other and themselves as just what they are- the same.

"If I guess who you are would you tell me if I was right?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes." She said; completely serious.

"Really?" He sounded like a five year old at Christmas, excited for everything, so much that he can't hold his excitement in. He was even smiling. A real smile, one that could light up the room- through Hermione would never admit to even thinking such a thing.

"No." She looked him dead in the eye, the small smile fading rather quickly from her lips_; her small, round lips, the lips he dreamt of whenever he could, the lips that he wished would smile only for him; just because if that ever happened he would smile just for her, and maybe, just maybe, or at least in his dreams, that part makes her smile fill her whole face; she'd smile until her cheeks hurt. Dammit man; focus!_

Draco really did need to focus; because if he was, he would've noticed a black shadow move just to his left. Luckily, Hermione was focused, and she did see whatever moved in the darkness of the night.

"Shit." She whispered, almost inaudible against the ruckus of the rest of the castle.

"What?" Asked the Slytherin, obviously oblivious to the events of the past thirty seconds.

"Didn't you see? Mrs. Norris! We'd better split like a banana."

"Split like a banana? Are you serious?" his face was pink now, and he was trying really hard not to laugh at her old fashioned turn of phrase.

"Just shut the hell up and follow me- unless you'd like to sulk back to your dungeon, of course."

"Following."

She bolted to her right now; running to the one eyed witch passage; which was just one corridor down. When they got there, she whispered the password; quiet enough so that the Slytherin wouldn't hear, of course, and they both got into the passage.

They were quiet for a minute before they heard Mr. Filch calling Mrs. Norris into his bed quarters to sleep.

"What time is it?" She asked as they exited the passage.

"It's about ten after one." He answered sadly, aware that she would want to go to bed when she heard the time.

"Oh." Came her short reply.

"Why?" he inquired innocently.

"I should be getting to bed, what with classes in the morning."

"Well what do you have tomorrow?"

"Divination, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Charms, and Ancient Runes." Hermione replied, not really sure if he would question her or the fact that three of those classes were at the same time, but really hoping he wouldn't.

"That's a lot of classes." He noted.

"Yeah." She agreed.

"I'll let you get to bed then." He said with a knowing smile.

"Thanks." She turned to go to Gryffindor tower, which was now behind her, before his steady voice called her from behind.

"And Hermione, don't let that time turner get into your head. It's okay to not know everything."

"Draco?" she called frantically as she turned around once more, but he was gone- he disappeared into the noise of the night.

So Mercury continued up to bed; and Thuban went down to his. Both thinking the exact same thing: _third year is going to be very interesting._

xXx

*scene and time change to that same morning, but at about six hours (so about seven in the morning) later and in the great hall*

xXx

Draco couldn't stop staring at her; no matter what. She thought he was crazy; but really then she was crazy too; she couldn't stop staring all through Transfiguration.

Until, that is, they met in an empty hallway, neither letting the other pass before an explanation occurred.

"So, about last night…" He started, drifting off.

"I- I'm sorry for disappearing so suddenly. And, if you don't mind me asking a few questions-" Hermione started, before Draco rudely interrupted her.

"Hard to stop you anyway." He muttered under his breath.

"How did you know it was me? And how do you know I'm using a time-turner?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, not trusting the Slytherin.

"Easy. Divination and Arithmancy are at the same time, and I'm in your Arithmancy class, and you never miss a class, even though you do all your homework in the library- even Divination." He explained in one breath, trying to get the awkward part over with, yet never really wanting it to end.

"You're very observant." She stated.

"It's a gift." He countered.

"But I am too." She pulled her most Slytherin smirk- one to rival Draco's take on the smug expression.

"How so?" He asked, eyes full of mirth.

"You're blushing- a light pink on your cheeks, Your heart is beating rather fast- I took your pulse while you were talking, Dilated pupils- Unnoticeable- unless you're me, and I can hear your brain from here- which is strange- normally you don't even use it- But, you do want to ask me to Hogsmeade next weekend." She observed, taking maybe half a breath in her rant, while Draco stood there dumbstruck.

"Woah." He breathed.

"Am I correct?", She asked innocently.

"You got all that and you couldn't say I'll meet you at ten?" He smiled through his uneasiness.

"See you then, Thuban." She used his nickname, confirming she'd be there.

"Later, Mercury." He said casually as they parted ways, both with a smile on their face.

And with that, the pair ended their conversation- I'll let you all imagine the rest- whether it's a bad break up or two set of young feet running round Malfoy Manor.


End file.
